Rereading Empire of Storms and once again notice a difference between Rowan and Lorcan regarding their paramours… When Elide is close to breaking from despair, Lorcan offers her pleasantries and comforts, the bed, a bath, a tin of salve for her leg. He talks about trying to use kindness to make her want to help him, be grateful to him.
Then there’s Rowan who sees Aelin about to snap and is like “Lol backflip bitch”
Everyone talks about what a cold hearted bastard Lorcan can be, but pre-QoS Rowan is 1000 times more of a prick lol
why does SJM never follow up on or stick to anything she writes?
nesta says fighting isn’t the only strength that exists and now she’s a ✨warrior✨
nesta says she wants to go travel the world and see what it has to offer and now she’s ✨stuck in a house where the only way out is to either take 10,000 steps or ask someone to get her out✨
feyre says she doesn’t want a child and wants to experience life and next thing you know ✨she’s a mother✨
I also feel the same way, like realistically people change their minds about things all the time but with SJM isn’t her writing her characters to fit the plot not her writing g the plot to fit her characters.
I personally say she’s writing to fit the male narrative. Which is interesting since the male character never even has more of the POV.
Cassian’s a warrior. Nesta’s a warrior. Who has to do more of the groveling? Nesta. Who shouldered the emotion and romance of this ship? Nesta. Who had more of the power (money influence friends etc)? Cassian. Was that ever evened out? Nope. She changes her BODY to have a baby. What???????? That’s something that happens. Literally. Forget Cassian saying I love you. he didn’t apologize even once. But? Nesta. She did.
Rhysand’s a high lord. Feyre’s a high lady. Does she ever get to be in the high lady role that we see her in? No. Who has more of the voice in pregnancy arc? Rhysand. Literally fucking Rhysand.
Who is now the main intersection between Gwyn, Elain, and Mor? Azriel. It’s always Azriel!!!!
Even in the main plot of Mor, who now has more of a voice and influence? Eris. Who do we almost believe more and have sympathy for based on context alone and how it’s presented? Eris!!!
Does Mor even have a narrative? no!
Does Elain have a narrative? no! Do we even have any details? no!
They can fix wings and eyes for the male characters. But for the female characters? Emerie cant fly. Too complicated to fix. Feyre almost dies. No c sections exist. There’s a library full of women who are sas and they have an entire people who have no rights for women. Even Amren now looks like a tyrant.
Every single mother character is abused. LOA. Cassian’s mom. Rhysands mom. Azriels mom.
Feyre is the first high lady and there still is no new high lady. Amarantha is a powerful women and she’s the first villain. The queens are the villains. Vassa is cursed, lost her kingdom.
Has any of this been resolved in any concrete way that even makes it seem like a smidge that women have power in this world which satisfies girlboss feminism? NOOOOOOO.
So I say maybe when she gets that straight everything will actually start making sense here.
Wow, this was so spot on! Her thirst for her male characters drives so much of how and what she writes.
Anyone who isn’t currently in a loving, committed relationship is thisclose to being useless to the story. That’s why Mor disappeared, and Elain is nearly MIA.
It’s what I’ve been annoyed about since acosf came out - how she can’t even consider a character’s existence if they aren’t literally on the page. I guess this is another aspect.
To me, this is also another sign of her being self-indulgent in her writing, which on the one hand is okay! We won’t write if we don’t enjoy it! But uh… there are readers and stuff We can and will find inconsistencies and plot holes.
I think this is one of the many reasons I very much prefer ToG to ACOTAR. While both series have their merits and flaws, I think ToG sticks to it’s guns more. The characters have more agency outside of relationships. The reason Aelin can have four different relationships in her series, all of them rounded out, is because her life never revolves fully on them. Even her relationship with Rowan is secondary to her own goals and achievements as a person. Because ToG is, at it’s heart, an story of adventure. ACOTAR, at it’s heart, is a self indulgent romance that follows more of the male-dominating, submissive woman, BDSM sort of vibe that Sarah enjoys reading. (She has mentioned the Black Dagger Brotherhood many times in interviews and I read some way back in the day and they are very much a narrative on a man finding, claiming, and dominating a woman into sex marathons and baby-making). And there isn’t anything wrong with people enjoying that sort of fictional narrative.
The issue is that after reading ToG, we expected more to the story. ToG has well rounded women who, while they all eventually do end up in relationships and while the men do still have these ridiculous “alpha male” type personalities, it is the women who carry the series.
It is Aelin working herself out of slavery and oppression, Aelin coming to terms with an abandoned heritage and then fighting like hell to reclaim a land and a people who have been submerged in darkness for ten years. It is Aelin’s story of evolving from self-centered assassin to a Queen of the People.
It is the story of a witch who learns what love is, and that love is the only power worth fighting for. Who learns this from her bonds with her wyvern and her friends and secondarily, if that, from a romantic partner.
It’s the story of a woman who travels to the ends of the continent, overcoming disability and the evils of men and war, on the slim chance of a better world. Elide is the carrier if the word key, and the one to plot the demise of the dark villain.
It is the story of a woman who chose healing over the darkness the world. It is Yrene who brings Chaol out of the dark, who defeats Erawan, who’s bravery and merit combined, not with Chaol but with the cunning and courage of Nesryn, that wins them an army.
ToG has women who carry the plot. Women in true seats of power. Aelin is Queen. Rowan, even as her husband, is still King Consort. It is Manon who is Queen, even with a romance with Dorian that might have given her a crown. It is Yrene who is the savior of the world, the title of Lady never a needed addition to the power she has amassed for herself.
ACOTAR was a romance with a flimsy fantastic plot beneath the main story that is Rhys and Feyre. And yes, even with all Rhys spouts about being pro-woman, Feyre still dresses the way he likes, is only close friends with his friends (Lucien, Alis, all of Feyre’s friends outside of Rhys’s are either forgotten or sidelined), and lives his lifestyle. She talks about how Tamlin just wanted her in pretty dresses, having babies, and painting, but in the end, that is exactly what she does with Rhys. She can’t even have an argument with him about how he treats her sister without Rhys telling his buddy that he’s sending away the servants not because of their arguing, but because she’ll soon forget about it while having sex with him.
And then Nesta falls into the exact same pattern with Cassian. They argue, she submits to him, he fucks her. He’s a dick, she retaliates, she feels bad, she submits, he fucks her.
Sarah is GOOD at chemistry. She’s good at making the audience thirst for the next kiss and the next round of heat. She’s good at making characters want each other, and making the audience then want them to want each other.
And it wouldn’t be so frustrating if that was ALL she was good at. If ACOTAR was just a sex romance book that I picked up when I was in the mood. But she adds enough elements to make it have the potential to be SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT. And so it’s incredibly disappointing when it falls short.
The women, given so much potential for greatness, settle to be what is most comfortable for the men in their lives to live with.
Friendly reminder that Aelin technically started all of the antagonistic shit between her court and Lorcan. Lorcan didn’t do anything to her until after she almost got him killed by Valg and Wyrdhounds. And even then, when he got the better of her, he only wanted to make a deal with her and Rowan. He could have just threatened to kill her to get the Wyrd keys, but instead he offered to make a deal with them– a fair deal, giving them something that was truly valuable and did what he said it did. A deal which *he* adhered to and they lied about.
And the main reason Aelin hated him was for the fact he whipped Rowan on Maeve’s orders, despite knowing that the blood oath made it impossible to refuse and the fact that, when Rowan gets whipped Aelin describes both Gavriel and Lorcan as being blanked faced and pitiless, guessing to the fact that they had both delivered and received the same punishment before. (Which I’m sure Rowan had also been on the giving end of that punishment at one point or another).
So yeah, that’s my Ted Talk. Thanks for showing up.
Headcanon that all these telepathic conversations between Rowan and Aelin are completely one sided and Aelin is just playing out a deep conversation in her head while Rowan gazes moonily at her and his only thought is, “Golly, she’s purdy”
“Her cousin looked Rowan over with an appreciate eye and said, "You never bothered to tell me how handsome your faerie prince was, Aelin.’” (Queen of Shadows, page 243)
We all know Sarah isn’t exactly the best when it comes to revealing her non-hetero characters sexualities, but at least we can say Aedion’s bisexuality wasn’t completely left field.
Manon: Literally kills and murders people for fun– everyone loves her, fuck yeah redemption arc, she’s so cute with her little wyvern
Chaol: Doesn’t fully accept Aelin and her choices, can be kind of an asshole on occasion– everyone hates him, he’s a piece of shit, he doesn’t deserve a happy ending
“Hearth to hearth, the Flame of War went. […]To remote villages where people screamed and scattered as a young-faced woman descended from the skies on a broom, waving her torch high. Not to signal them, but the few women who did not run. Who walked toward the flame, the rider, as she called out, “Your queen summons you to war. Will you fly?” - Sarah J. Mass, Kingdom of Ash
This was one of my favourite moments in the whole series and I immediately knew I wanted to draw it. That said, I’m glad I can finally publish it, I’ve been working on it for ages and grew really sick and tired of it lol
Edit: A refreshed version of this piece is now available on my Redbubble
Dorian: I bet you can´t from a sentence without using the letter “a”.
Chaol: you thought you did something there did’t you? Well sorry to burst your bubble, but numerous sentences could be constructed without employing he first letter of the english lexicon.
ToG characters as things that my friends have said this year
Dorian: if I don’t kill myself by the end of the week it will be a miracle
Aelin: if I don’t kill anyone by the end of the week it will be a miracle
Aedion: bro, at this point, I’m just existing
Lysandra: everything is gay, even when you’re kissing someone of the opposite gender, you’re also indirectly kissing someone of the same gender as yours
Chaol: every one in this room, including myself has a chaotic alignment
Yrene: at this point, not dying is my goal
Elide, to Manon: my boyfriend and I broke up!
Manon to Elide: isn’t this like, the fourth time this month?
Rowan: idk bro, at this point, whatever comes is worth
Lorcan: I would say that you are being a little hoe
Fenrys: Love? No thanks, I’m gonna watch anime
Gavriel: sometimes I wish I could go back in time and kick my younger self in the balls
Nesryn: the reason I always look so tired is because I’m dead inside
hey, y’all. it has been awhile! I am not dead, but not here either. here’s a thread explaining why, and thank you so much for coming along on this journey with me! (most of you, anyways).
my new main is @theseviolentdelights-insta (@/theseviolentdelightss on IG), and my bookstagram is @/schreavingthroughpages. if you ever need someone to talk to, or just want a chat, book recs, etc. my messages are open!
![amefuri-no-kayoubi: “Hearth to hearth, the Flame of War went. […]To remote villages where people scr](https://64.media.tumblr.com/acb610cd5d47d94512e55c17b9ba0d43/6aae62b36a74c430-c5/s1280x1920/63783454f2c36abdee066002fc62baafdb3e3d72.jpg "amefuri-no-kayoubi: “Hearth to hearth, the Flame of War went. […]To remote villages where people scr")
